Monthly archives: March 2019

Ming is from China and she joined this group as a Ph.D. student in 2016. She got her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and her M.Sc. in Industrial catalysis. She worked as research assistant in the Hubei Research Institute of chemistry for 4 years before she decided to pursue her further education as a Ph.D.  Ming has been holding a great interest in photochemistry and Environmental research since college. She studied the photocatalysis of synthesized TiO₂ microspheres in the wastewater treatment for her bachelor thesis and chose the utilization & purification of industrial gases as the research area for her Master’s degree. Now she is studying the atmospheric carbonaceous particles that primarily come from combustion processes, such as biomass burning and wildfires, with a focus on its chemical and optical properties.

Alex is currently working towards her M.Sc. in Environmental/Analytical Chemistry. She grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed her undergraduate degree in honours chemistry at the University of Manitoba. During the course of her undergraduate degree, Alex worked as a student researcher in Dr. Gregg Tomy’s group and worked on several projects over the summer involving Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). She also completed an honours project, which involved working to develop an LC-MS/MS method that quantified antibiotics in order to study the effect of adjuvants on antibiotic resistant bacteria. Alex is thrilled to be starting her master’s degree and is excited to be a part of the Styler group. Currently, she is working on quantifying hydroxyl radicals produced by dust using a molecular probe.

Laura is currently working towards her M.Sc. in Analytical/Environmental Chemistry. She completed her undergrad at the University of Calgary in Chemistry. During an NSERC funded undergraduate summer project, she completed research in Dr. Viola Birss’ electrochemistry group on nanoporous carbon supports for ethanol oxidation. She went on to do a full year honors research project in Dr. Hans Osthoff’s atmospheric chemistry group looking at measuring nitrate aerosols (NH₃NO₃ and NaNO₃) by thermal dissociation cavity ring-down spectroscopy (TD-CRDS). This project sparked her interest in atmospheric chemistry, and she is excited to be working with the Styler group. Her current project focuses on the uptake of trace gases (e.g. O₃, NO₂) on non-exhaust particulate matter in the atmosphere.

Iris is working towards her M.Sc. in Chemistry after completing her undergraduate co-op degree at the University of Waterloo in Biochemistry, where she studied the alignment of multi-walled carbon nanotubes using organic molecules under Dr. Derek Schipper as her Honours research project. However, it was through her co-op positions at places such as Environment Canada and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories that sparked her interest in analytical environmental chemistry. She aims to use chemistry to study current environmental issues/applications. Iris is currently studying the presence of PAHs in wildfire ash and their photochemical transformations in the environment.